The3LittlePigs
Junior Guinea Pig
My three piggies have been separated due to fighting for some time now, perhaps a month or so. I have two pigs, an elderly boy (Thistle) and his younger companion (Kiwi) living in a hutch with a very long run together and getting on pretty well. Kiwi is dominant and Thistle just sort of gets on with anyone. Their friend, who was separated inside for a while, was attacked a few times by Kiwi, and suffered a few open wounds before i separated them. His name is Pickle, and last weekend his hutch arrived, and so he has moved outside. He is living adjacent to the other two, with the run going between the two hutches. This way, they can all talk, but can't fight. Its lovely to see him interacting with them, as he's been very lonely on his own. I will be getting some more panels in a few days when I save enough money to halve the run, so Pickle has a portion of the run and his hutch, and then Kiwi & Thistle have the same. They will be able to see one another and talk, but not fight.
I'm also going to a rescue this weekend to get Pickle a friend. I was wondering if anyone has any idea if this would work? Would they still try to fight or will they eventually settle, or will the presence of another pair constantly disturb their hierarchy? Essentially there will be two separate pairs, but they'll still be able to smell and see one another without actually being able to fight.
I don't have any images of the set up, but imagine it's something like this, as I'm not sure how well I've explained it - horizontal lines represent run panels and vertical lines represent the hutches.
|---------|--------|
1.........2.........3
1; the first hutch, 3; the second, facing one another and sideways on the garden, with metal panels on either side of both hutches, running between. 2 will be the separating panels which create 'two' runs.
I'm also going to a rescue this weekend to get Pickle a friend. I was wondering if anyone has any idea if this would work? Would they still try to fight or will they eventually settle, or will the presence of another pair constantly disturb their hierarchy? Essentially there will be two separate pairs, but they'll still be able to smell and see one another without actually being able to fight.
I don't have any images of the set up, but imagine it's something like this, as I'm not sure how well I've explained it - horizontal lines represent run panels and vertical lines represent the hutches.
|---------|--------|
1.........2.........3
1; the first hutch, 3; the second, facing one another and sideways on the garden, with metal panels on either side of both hutches, running between. 2 will be the separating panels which create 'two' runs.
